Cutting-machine.



R.T.HUGHES.

CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26. 19!].

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

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R. T. HUGHES.

CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26. l9l7.

1,281,012. Patented Oct. s, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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D: STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT T; HUGHES; 0F CHIGAGO, ILLINOIS.

CUTTIN G-MACHIN E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

Toall'wkom it may concern:

Be it kno'wn that I, ROBERT T.- Hoenns, a citizen of the United States, residing atGhicage, in the county'oficook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful In the manufacture of macaroni, as it has" been heretofore known to me, lengths of the formed strands are taken from the forming machine and strung upon sticks to besuspended in a. cutting machine or frame. In this frame thestrands rest vertically against a cuttingbar, so thata knlfe 1n the handsofan operator may.- be-carried across thejstrand's't'o sever, them into boxing lengths before drying; In carrying out the cutting operation, it is necessary for the. proper drying of the'macaroni, that the ends ofthe cut lengths be; kept open. Furthermore, it is necessary that the strands becut before they become too dry andare therefore in danger of' breaking instead of cutting when the attemptis made tosever-them. In'making the cuts ineither of two possible ways with a knife,- certain disadvantages arise. Thus, if theknifeis' drawn across thetopofithe cutting bar, so-as to sever'thematerial with ashearing cut, the'ends of the sticks or strands will-be closed by reason of the combined-compression of the tubes and the tendency of theknife to draw one side of the tubular formation of dough below On. theother hand, .if the knife isjdrawn along theface of thecutting the other side.

bar,the tendency'thenis to cause'the st'rands to follow the knife and distort and tangle them.

they have begun to possess a certain degree And when" either of these methodsis followed it is necessary that/ thestrandssha-ll have-beendried t'o such an extent that of stiffness, such that the dough would not mix with the mass from which the strands were formed.

The particular object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a cutting machine which will obviate the above enumerated disadvantages. Thus, I have mounted opposite the cutting bar a cutter blade which works against the face of the bar with a quick stroke having in its action the motion of a draw cut, the action, which parallels the direction of the cutting bar being of such short duration that there is no tendency of the strips or strands of macaroni to follow the blade, and the motion toward the cutting bar, in combination with the draw of thecut being such that it takes advantage of the resilience inherent in the dough of the freshly formed strands to spring back into their round open conformation as the cut is made. Therefore, by this method, the lengths are not only cut so as to leave the ends thereof open, but the wastage of partially dried ends i avoided, since the odd lengths which remain after the lengths are out can be returned to the dough mass to be again expressed in further strands.

\Vith the above objects in view, and such others relating to'thedetails of construction, 1 as may hereinafter appear, my lnvention' will now be fully set forth and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Figurel' is a perspective view of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section showing the cutting blade inoperative,

Fig. 3 is another horizontal sectionshowing the blade in the action of cutting,

Fig; 4 is a transverse ection,

Fig. 5 is a rear view partly broken away,

Fig; 6 is a plan View, and

Fig. 7 is a detail of an adjusting feature.

Referring more particularly to thedrawings, 1 representsa base or table which is inclosed upon three side by means of the side boards2, and which has rising from its corners the standards 3. At a suitable height above the table 1' there are extended -from front to rear across the standards 3.

fixed carrier bar 5 and which also assists in supporting a cutting bar 6, the latter eX- tending across the machine between the forward standards 3 so that its rear face coin-' cides with or extend beyond the rear sides of said forward standards.

The cutting bar 6 is preferably formed of maple wood, because of the hard, nonporous character, which properly resists the action of the cutting blade or knife 7 thereagainst. 7 i

The knife or blade 7 operates against the rear face of the cutting bar 6, and is formed of aflat metal plate mounted upon the upper side of a bar 8, so that its cutting edge 9 overhangs the forward side of said bar 8. The bar 8 lies in front of the supporting beam orbar '5, and substantially parallels the latter, so that a pair of link bars 10 which are pivoted at their middle points ,upon spindles 11 rising from thebeam 5 and extend diagonally in the same direction across the beam 8, may support the beam 8 upon the vertical spindles 12. V Thereby,

when the link bars 10 are swung upon their spindles 11, they willcarrythe bar 8 and the knife 7 forwardly toward the cutting bar 6 in continuous parallelism to the latter, and. the edge of the knife 7 will pass through the strands of macaroni with a short quick draw stroke which does not close-the ends of the strands as does a shear cut, and the inherent reslllence of the dough will cause the openings to spring back to their round contour. The rear ends of the link bars 10 overhang the back of the beam 5, and are connected by means of a connecting rod 13 which insures the unitary action of the links.

Also pivotally mounted upon the upper face of the beam 5 is an operating lever 14 Whose rear end is pivotally connected to the connecting rod 13, so that operation of the lever 14 will swing the knife? toward and away from the cutting bar 6 The outer end.

of the operating lever 14 extends beyond the side of the frame structure and also forwardly beyond the adjacent front standard 3. A flexible connection, such as a chain 15 has one end connected to the free end of the lever 14 and passes thence over a pulley 16 'mounted adjacent the corner of the frame,

and finally has its lower end connected to a foot pedal '17 suitably pivoted to the lower end of the frame structure, so that the knife 7 may be operated by foot power.

The macaroni is carried from the expressing or forming machine upon mandrels 18, the latter being of such length that they will be received between the standards 3 upon adjustable cross bars 19, the latter having the recessed track-ways20 formed therein to carry the ends of the bars. Notches 21 are formed in the track-ways 20 so as to ace curat'ely position the mandrels over the cutupon the bolts 22.

restore In the use of the device which has been above described, macaroni is received from the expressing machine, and laid in convenient lengths upon the mandrels :18 in slightly,spaced relation. The mandrels are then placed in the recesses 20, the mandrel to be operated uponbeing dropped into the notches 21, so that the ends of the macaroni will project-between the edge 9 and the cut-' ting bar 6. Then, after the proper length has I been set, the knife "7 isswung forwardly bypressureupon the pedal ,17, so thatthe ends of the macaroni are out ofi, When the pressure is released from the pedal 17 the knife is returned to its normal position by any suitable instrumentality, such as fl,SpIlI1g 25 interposed between the connecting rod 13 and a stationary partofthe frame. 1 l I The action of the short and I abruptly angled draw cutd as, been hereinbefore de fined, but it should be particularly noted that-the simultaneous actionofthis out upon all a of the strands prevents one from being dragged against another, and also severe the strands so sharply that the. edges of'the cut haye no opportunityto adhere one to an-j other as is the casewitha shear cut, and therefore the material, through the inherent we resilience of thejdoughsprings back into its original shape for drying. Also, thereis no 1 wastage of the ends of the dough,si nce my improved. machine permits the cutting ofthe dough before the material has dried to such an extent that it may not be returned to the batch.-

What I claim as my invention is a 1. A macaronicutting machine comprising a frame, a cutting bar carried thereby,

a supporting bar. carried by the frame at one,

side of the cutting bar, linkspivoted to the supporting bar, a knifeblade pivoted tosaid links and movable obliquely toward the; cutting bar for ngagement therewith, and

means for suspending strands of macaroni between theknife blade and cutting bar.

2. A macaroni cutting machine comprising a frame, a cutting .bar carriedthereby, a

supporting bar carried by the frame at one side of the cutting bar, linkbarshaving intermediate portions pivotedto the supporting bar, a knife blade pivoted to the ends of the link bars adjacent the'cutting bar and? j movableobliquely toward the cutting bar for engagement therewith, a bar- ,connecting the other ends of the link bars, a spring secured, to 'saidconnecting bar and to the frame tonormally retract the knife, means formoving the connecting bar in opposition to the spring and means for suspending strands of macaroni between the knife and cutting bar.

3. A macaroni cuttin machine comprising a frame, a cutting bar carried thereby, a knife carried by the frame at one side of the cutting bar and movable theretoward, a member carried by the frame for suspending strands of macaroni between the knife and cutter bar and means for adjusting said 1 member vertically to vary the lengths of strands cut by said knife.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ROBERT T. HUGHES. Witnesses:

SETH HARRY, VVILLIAM HOSKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

